USDA marks first log exports from Va to China
SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) — A federal agriculture official has helped re-launch Virginia log exports to China after forestry exports from this state and South Carolina were ended because of an invasive pest.
Rebecca Blue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture was at Royal Fumigation Facility in Suffolk on Wednesday as six container loads of unfinished logs were treated before shipment to China, the second-largest market for U.S. timber.
The deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs said the wood underwent enhanced treatment to ensure pinewood nematodes and other pests are not shipped to China.
China banned exports of soft- and hardwood logs from Virginia and South Carolina in April 2011, citing pests found on U.S. exports. China has now agreed to the six-month pilot project to reopen its borders to those Virginia wood products.
